3 recent Texas decommits who became stars
Evan Stewart, WR
Uber-talented wide receiver Evan Stewart was Sarkisian's first commitment he landed in the 2022 class as Texas's head coach. Stewart committed to Sarkisian and the Longhorns in the winter of 2021, which was early in that offseason.
But Stewart quickly backed off his commitment to the Longhorns, re-opening his recruitment just a couple of months later.
Stewart wound up committing to the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies during the fall of 2021, despite Sarkisian and the Longhorns heavily prioritizing his recruitment in that class. Stewart was one of many five-star recruits former head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies signed in a historic No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation for the 2022 cycle.
But that 2022 class unraveled for the Aggies just as quickly as it seemingly came together in the last couple of years. Among the nine five-star recruits in the 247Sports Composite, the Aggies signed in the 2022 class, only four remain on the current roster since the firing of Fisher last fall and the subsequent hiring of new head coach Mike Elko.
As for Stewart's career trajectory, he's been effective when healthy over his two years in college at Texas A&M. He was Texas A&M's most explosive and talented skill weapon on offense in the last two seasons, registering over 1,100 receiving yards and a half-dozen touchdowns since 2022.
After spending two seasons at Texas A&M, Stewart entered the transfer portal in a not-so-surprising move during the winter portal window. Texas was initially expected to be a player in Stewart's portal recruitment. But Stewart wound up taking his talents to Eugene to join the Oregon Ducks after the Longhorns didn't push for him as hard as some initially thought in the portal early this offseason.
Stewart was a crucial part of an Oregon transfer class for 2024 that ranked top five in the nation in the 247Sports portal rankings for this offseason. He is expected to be a top weapon in an Oregon passing game that will face a tough road in their inaugural season in the Big Ten, facing teams like the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes this fall.
Had Texas not had the unfortunate end to the 2021 season that it did, falling short of bowl eligibility after a historically bad stretch in conference play to end the campaign, it's likely that Stewart is currently a Longhorn. But Texas has been more than fine without Stewart in their receiving corps in the last few years.
Just think that Texas essentially replaced Stewart as the top future receiver in this offense for Sarkisian with a late-cycle flip in the spring of 2021 from Michigan, Xavier Worthy.